Into America

Rachel Maddow’s new series lays bare one of the most shocking decisions in American history. It’s story that reveals how an executive order authorizing the mass roundup of innocent Japanese Americans came to be, the powerful players who engineered it, and the burn order that tried to erase it from history.

Stay right here to listen to a special preview of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order.” And for the full episode, search for “Bu...

As a bonus for Into America listeners, we're sharing Trymaine's recent conversation on Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes podcast. Trymaine discusses his new book, “A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America" and talks about the weight of being a Black man in America, of bearing witness, as a journalist, to relentless Black death, the toll of intergenerational oppression and more.

To listen to th...

In a follow up to the series Uncounted Millions: the Power of Reparations - which chronicled the remarkable story of Gabriel Coakley, one of the only Black Americans to ever receive reparations for slavery – Trymaine Lee hosted a live discussion and debate on the future of reparations for Black Americans at the 92nd Street Y on May 29th, 2024. Trymaine was joined onstage by Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and creator of the 1619 ...

Into America has a live show coming up! Pulitzer prize-winning writer Nikole Hannah-Jones and acclaimed author and columnist Michael Harriot will join host Trymaine Lee onstage at the 92nd St Y in New York City on Wednesday May 29th. As a follow up to our “Uncounted Millions” series, Trymaine, Nikole, and Michael will grapple with what reparations could and should look like for Black Americans going forward. You can join us in-pers...

In “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” host Trymaine Lee used the story of Gabriel Coakley and his family to explore past and future conversations around reparations. That conversation has come to include educational institutions, many of which were built and sustained through enslavement, like the one mere blocks from Coakley’s home in Washington, DC: Georgetown University. On this special bonus episode, sponsored by t...

Can reparations be a reality for all Black Americans? In New York, the state Gabriel Coakley’s descendants now call home, the governor has signed a bill creating a task force to consider reparations for formerly enslaved people. It’s the third state to do so. But beyond local considerations, does this debate have real momentum at a national level? In the final episode of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” we take a loo...

As the Coakley and Flateau families change and grow through time, so too does the conversation on reparations for Black Americans. In this episode of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” both families move west to California, ultimately converging. Soon after, the Japanese Redress movement begins to shape the modern push for reparations in Black America.  

In part 4, Trymaine is joined by: attorney Don Tamaki, activist Em...

Gabriel Coakley was an exception. But what about the rule? In episode 3 of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” we’ll travel with Coakley’s descendants as they attempt to learn about the other side of their family, the Flateaus. Most Black families were met with nothing but their freedom after the Civil War and, in some cases, barely even that. Like most, the Flateau family didn’t enter this new era with any sort of gove...

In episode 2 of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” Gabriel Coakley builds on the freedom and success found in the first part of our series by going after what’s been denied to most Black families in America: financial freedom. Trymaine Lee traces Coakley’s legacy to understand how a surprising influx of money gave his family access to worlds and privileges denied to most African Americans at the turn of the Century thr...

The movement for reparations is gaining traction across the country, as cities and states debate what is owed to the descendants of the formerly enslaved. This question – what is owed? – has plagued America since the Civil War. But what Into America discovered is that through a strange legal loophole, a small number of Black people may have managed to get paid. In this series, “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” Pulitze...

Into America is back! In a new series, “Uncounted Millions,” we take a look at one of today's most pressing debates: reparations. On a journey that begins in the nation’s capital during the heat of the Civil War and ends in modern day Brooklyn, host Trymaine Lee follows the little-known story of one of the only Black people to receive reparations, and the mark it left on that family for generations to come. The series asks: if more...

Chris Hayes is on tour with his podcast "Why Is This Happening?" for a series of live shows. In Chicago, he celebrated 50 years of hip-hop at the House of Blues. He was joined by scholar Imani Perry, rapper Vic Mensa, and "Into America" host Trymaine Lee. Trymaine talked about why this music has meant so much to him throughout his life, why it matters for Black America - and all Americans, and what new tidbits he learned while maki...

Nearly 30 years ago, California voters approved Prop 209, which banned affirmative action for the state’s public universities. For some elite schools like UC Berkeley and UCLA, Black student enrollment plummeted, changing the campuses for decades to come. On Into America, we’re going back to Cali to get a glimpse of what life on campus was like during the golden age of Black student enrollment, how the campus responded to threats t...

California’s official task force on reparations has delivered its final report to the state legislature.

The report includes a formula for determining direct financial compensation, along with more than 100 other recommendations, including establishing universal health care, implementing rent caps in historically redlined neighborhoods, and making Election Day a paid holiday.

And in their report, the authors spent a significant amoun...

When the news of a Freaknik documentary hit Twitter, people joked about seeing their parents, aunts, uncles on film having too much of a good time. Freaknik was a legendary street party that started in Atlanta back in the early 80s and became a destination for young Black people to dance, watch step shows, and see concerts.

“It was the perfect storm. You know, it could not happen anywhere else. It had to happen in Atlanta,” rap lege...

This week, the US Supreme Court struck down the use of Affirmative Action in higher education, in one of the most widely watched cases of the summer. 

As part of his television reporting, Trymaine Lee had a conversation with professor Cara McClellan of the University of Pennsylvania’s law school in the lead up to the decision. They talked about the history of this policy, as well as the stakes of losing it. And we wanted to share th...

Every June, Pride month is a time for self-expression and celebration. But the road here was paved with struggle and sacrifice.

From confronting police during the Stonewall Uprising, to fighting to stay afloat during the AIDS crisis, to battling in the courtroom for the basic rights of citizenship, generations of LGBTQ people have faced gains and losses.  

Of the frontlines of each of these fights have been queer baby boomers.

On this...

America as we know it today would be nothing without Black labor. From the first enslaved Africans who built our economy, to the unheralded agricultural and domestic workers during segregation, to the frontline workers who put their health on the line during the pandemic. 

Historian Blair LM Kelley has been highlighting the stories of the Black working class her whole career. In her new book Black Folk, she traces the story of Black...

In Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3: “the people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” The day became known as Juneteenth, commemorating the actual end of slavery in the United States. 

Yet more than a century and a half later, Black people in Galveston are still fighting for the “absolu...